Survey: Employers Experiencing Talent Shortages for Skilled Positions

Jun 1, 2012

Though the economy is showing signs of sustained improvement and more unemployed professionals are becoming confident in their prospects of landing a job, a new survey shows there remains a significant talent shortage for certain positions.

The study, conducted by ManpowerGroup, included responses from nearly 40,000 employers from 41 countries and territories as part of a Talent Shortage Survey. A total of 34 percent of these respondents said they were having trouble filling positions, with skilled trades, engineers and sales representatives ranking as the most difficult roles to fill. In the U.S., IT staff replaced sales representatives on the list.

Accounting and finance staff, drivers, mechanics, nurses, machinists and teachers filled out the list for the most difficult roles to fill among U.S. employers, the survey noted.

In the most cases across the world and in the U.S., companies pointed to a lack of candidates as well as a lack of technical skills among applicants as the leading reasons for their inability to fill positions, according to the survey.

"Based on the many conversations we have with employers every day, ManpowerGroup recognizes the ongoing challenge business leaders face when looking for the right talent," Jonas Prising, ManpowerGroup president of the Americas, said in a release. "This skills mismatch has major ramifications on employment and business success in the U.S and around the globe. Wise corporate leaders are doing something about it, and we increasingly see that they're developing workforce strategies and partnerships with local educational institutions to train their next generation of workers."

The Manpower survey results were released following previous research that indicated a U.S. tech worker shortage is likely to continue as more foreign-born workers continue to choose other countries as their destination.

The report, which was titled "Not Coming to America," noted that only 4.4 percent of U.S.-born undergraduates are enrolled in STEM programs, compared to 31.2 percent in China, 12.4 percent in Germany and 6.1 percent in the UK, according to InformationWeek.

"We are quickly losing our edge as other countries adopt smarter, economic-driven immigration policies," New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a member of the group that produced the study, said in a statement. "The future is on the line - now is the time to reform the system and welcome the workers who will continue our success as the world's leading economy."